The sting of death

I was listening to a Sam Harris lecture podcast this morning. He mentioned the notion of "the sting of death" as a contrasting point on how people spend their time here on Earth.  Religion puts an interesting twist with the introduction of the afterlife.  If you truly believe in the afterlife then where is the pain in dying? What importance does that put to your life here on Earth?

It brought to mind stories told by American soldiers in the WWII Pacific Theater.  Several American accounts discussed the attitude about life and death for the soldiers on both sides.  The claims were that the Americans were mainly pushing forward with dominating thoughts of survival.  They contrasted this with the often suicidal tendencies of the Japanese soldiers. For the Japanese, there was ultimate honor in death. There was ultimate dishonor in surrender. There were eternal rewards to them and their family for faithfully serving their emperor.  The American soldiers considered these different attitudes as a key element to victory. Personally, I would say that our geographic isolation and massive industrial might (not to mention the two atomic bombs) were probably the biggest keys to success. However, it's hard to discount the attitude of the soldiers fighting the war on the ground.

These American soldiers, as mostly Christians, no doubt believed in an afterlife as well.  Apparently, either the common dogma of Christianity or the American political importance of the individual didn't promote fanaticism to the point of intentionally suicidal acts.  However, even the Christian view of an afterlife must have some sort of diminishing importance to life on Earth.  Our time here seems relatively inconsequential to the the eternity of the afterlife.

For an atheist, there is no solace in an afterlife.  Life on earth is EVERYTHING. It is the beginning and ending of your personal existence. I'm reminded of a scene from Dead Poets' Society:



Christians often tell me that without God, there's no reason to adhere to morals (that, in fact, there are none without Him).  I'll make a similarly sweeping statement in return.  If Heaven is eternal and tantamount, what's the point of life here on Earth?  Are we here to simply feed God's ego by worshiping Him and giving thanks to Him for our entire existence here?  If there is the promise of a wondrous afterlife, how easily could you be manipulated into being a kamikaze pilot ... or a suicide bomber ... or any sort of martyr for your God?  I assert that the lack of an afterlife makes our time here infinitely more precious.